There was no edge to Laurent's tone, no condescension. And, even if he wanted, Damen could not deny the truth in it. He wanted, as fiercely as he'd ever wanted anything.

He thought maybe he had for some time and only now, only when it seemed possible, had let himself acknowledge that want.

And yet the request seemed jarring. Had Laurent ever asked anything of him? Certainly nothing in this manner, nothing that involved what Damen so readily wished to give. His fingers curled slightly, catching on thin fabric as his heart raced, and he managed a nod. 'Anywhere you'd like,' he said, resisting the urge now to smooth his hand higher up Laurent's shoulder, to feel the soft, bare skin of Laurent's neck with the pad of his thumb.